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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Gluten Free for me ... equals Gluten Free Sweet and Sour Pork

For many many months of feeling terrible (having backaches, headaches, spaciness, grumpiness, tummy aches, tummy cramping, over all feeling bad, unmotivated and unproductive) and having a million and one test and procedures done, it turns out that it all may have had to do with gluten. I am sure I still have my kidney stone issue... but.. After seeing a gastrointestinal and having a few more tests done, I was told it looks like you may have a gluten sensitivity. So I gave up the gluten for about 3 weeks and magically started feeling better. So the doctor said avoid gluten.

So I did as I was told and I continued to feel better. That was until I went out to eat with some co-workers. Without even thinking about it I had bean dip with my tortilla chips... I mean really corn chips... beans..cheese... sounded good to me... 5 chips later my stomach was cramping and I feared I would be running to the restroom in a matter moments. So I stopped snacking on chips and specifically order a gluten free meal... surprisingly the refried beans were no where to be found on my plate... why, well it turns out this place uses a cheese sauce that has flour in it. DUH!

After a few days of back to the previous mentioned symptoms. I decided it was time to give up the gluten and all of this left my house. Luckily my dear husband is going gluten free with me... at least at home.

Now of course, a girl like me who loves carbohydrates, started craving everything that I could not have... Sourdough bread - check... sushi with fried shrimp - check.... onion rings -- check... cookies - check... cake - oh yeah.. biscuits and gravy-- I think you get the point. I like flour... a lot. It just doesn't like me so. Luckily I am a pretty good cook and so is the hubby.

So tonight when I was craving sweet and sour pork, which I have wanted since I was told no more gluten, my husband suggest I look for a gluten free recipe. Thank goodness for the internet. So after tracking a recipe down and going to the grocery store we made dinner.

After making the sauce. We fried up some pork, sauteed some veggies, mixed it all together and had ourselves a delicious take in dinner.

Believe it or not it was quite yummy. Better than some Chinese restaurants than I have tried and the best part is I didn't get sick. Amazing right!

I thought I would share the recipes. That is just case anyone else out there in the same boat as me and thinks this looks yummy.

Mix cornstarch and pineapple juice together. Put some the oil in a sauce pan. Add the first four ingredients. Mix until combined and sugar is melted. Add pineapple juice mixture and bring to a boil. Stir frequently until thickened. Added optional red food coloring if you are going for the take out look.

Heat up a pan with oil for frying. The oil should be a couple inches deep. In a bowl mix the GF flour with the sparking mineral water to make a batter... a bit looser than pancake batter - not to thick or too thin (you can tell when you fry the pork how your batter is doing... you want it to puff up a bit and not fall off the pork when you take it out of the oil). Dip the pork cubes in the batter, let excess batter drip back into the batter bowl and then careful place in oil to fry. appx 2-4 minutes but it could be longer mattering how big your chucks are and how hot you get your oil. Do small batches of the pork so your oil doesn't cool to much. Make sure to give the oil time to heat back up between batches. Cook until golden brown and pork is no longer pink (check a couple pieces by cutting your fried pork until you get the hang of it) Cool/drain on paper towels. Continue until all the pork is cooked. I had extra batter left over when I was done with my batch. If your batch doesn't seem to be enough add flour and sparking water to make enough for all your pork.

Meanwhile, steam your carrots (I used the microwave, but use your favorite method). The saute the onion and bell pepper in the 2 tsp of oil. Add the pineapple and carrots. Cook until everything is slightly tender.

To finish off place everything in a bowl and carefully toss to mix. I served mine with a side of steamed rice, but of course you could serve yours with anything you like.

3 comments:

I am so glad you figured out what was going on! It sounds like feeling better is worth no onion rings... When the doctor diagnosed my allergy to mammalian meat (I know, weird right?) I thought she was crazy. Then I stopped eating the meat and I realized most people are not itchy all of the time. I did not have to be itchy either! It is hard to explain to people, that yes, my turkey burger can't even cook in the fat from your beef burger... Keep up the good work with your anti-gluten!

I'm gluten free by way of celiac disease. At first I thought it was unfair and ridiculous that I had to give up my favorite foods. But once I started feeling better, there's no way I would ever purposely eat gluten! For me, it was a miracle cure: "You mean I'm going to feel 1,000x better and all I have to do is give up bread, donuts, and biscuits?!" That's a trade I'll take any day. Sometimes I still feel cheated, but then I think of all the ways my GF diet has enriched my life. Becuase I'm busy looking for gluten, I've started reading ingredient lists and actually care what I put in my body. I get to try new and different foods and cafes. And all those mysterious symptoms disappeared and I feel better than ever. Almost 2 years later and my body is finally showing signs that I've healed the damage gluten did to me. It's not easy, but it's worth it! Good luck, and good for you for trying some new recipes!

I'm glad you're feeling OK now. We are gluten free at home because of my husband. He has a kidney problem and need less protein. Now you know there is wheat in almost everything!!!! The good part is the family is feeling better with gluten free diet. Is hard specially with kids but we can. Good luck!!!!

About Me

I am a teacher. I live with my two German Shepherd Dogs and my loving husband. I enjoy quilting, photography and almost anything artsy-craft like. See my blog: http://jenniffier.blogspot.com for more info.

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